1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to semiconductor device manufacturing and more particularly to processes and methods for protecting semiconductor dice during and after singulation.
2. Background Art
Semiconductor devices are often designed with a protective seal ring around the device perimeter. Such a seal ring provides an alignment feature for saw singulation of the device from the semiconductor wafer, provides a barrier to chipping and/or cracking during the saw singulation process, and acts as a barrier to moisture penetration to maintain long term reliability. The seal ring is typically formed from stacked metal layers such as aluminum, internal to the device, applied during semiconductor processing. In certain semiconductor process flows, such as bulk acoustic wave (BAW) filter flows, these metal layers are unavailable, not definable, or undesirable, rendering traditional seal ring technology infeasible. Thus, an improved semiconductor seal ring that does not rely on stacked metal layers is needed.